Folks, I could do with some recommendations for a reasonable 16 port gigabit switch please. It doesn't need to be managed, it just needs to work for a week a year. This will stop the HP Procurve that we have been taken and used at a trade show causing me a headache every 12 months. Nothing fancy or expensive (as I will not get approval for expensive).

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TP-Link is one of the most reliable, yet underutilized switches. They have both managed and unmanaged, but I've only ever used their unmanaged switches. They have rackmount and desktop versions, based on where you're looking to put it. The goal for an unmanaged switch is to "simply work" and TP-Link does just that.

If you're not going to be pushing much data through it at your trade show the cheapest 16port switch will doodle do. I have a 16port 100mb NetGear that I got for free, it just works and should keep working for many years. I could've got a gigabit version for a couple of £. If you need a switch that will guarantee non-blocking bandwidth then splash the cash, if not I think the most important thing I would look for is does it have an IEC mains connector or a power adapter? The last thing you need is just as you're packing up for the show you realise you've lost the power adapter...

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Thanks guys. The trade show is in a different country so I need something that will work, as I may not be there to set it up, and the kit gets shipped a week in advance and doesn't return for at least a week afterwards.

There is nothing wrong with our HP Procurve, but when it goes to the trade show it causes me a headache as I need to connect the systems it serves to something else, which isn't ideal. I would rather just leave it be.

I have found that we can get a refurbished Procurve for £100. I may go down this route. We need to make sure that have a solid switch as we demonstrate our software when at the show. The last thing we need is for slow traffic / devices to lose connectivity etc, it would not look fantastic.

Quite literally any switch that is 16 port Gigabit will work in this case. personally I would just go on ebay and buy some old catalyst L3 switch on the cheap just in case your needs change and you end up needing layer 3 features.

this one is $65 and it a cisco catalyst so you know it will probably work.